Retraction and Correction

Retraction and Correction Policy

Journal CERITA (Creative Education of Research in Information Technology and Artificial Informatics) is committed to maintaining the integrity, accuracy, and completeness of the scholarly record. In accordance with the guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the journal enforces strict and transparent mechanisms to handle corrections, clarifications, and retractions after an article has been officially published.

1. Article Corrections (Errata and Corrigenda)

An article correction is issued when an honest, unintentional error is discovered in a published article that does not compromise the core scientific findings, methodologies, or overall validity of the paper. Corrections are categorized as follows:

  • Erratum: Issued to correct significant errors introduced by the journal during the production, layout, or editing process (e.g., misprinted tables, truncated text, or incorrect metadata).
  • Corrigendum: Issued to correct significant errors introduced by the authors themselves during the writing or data assembly phase (e.g., an omitted author name, a typo in a mathematical formula, or a mislabeled figure).

Implementation: The original article will remain online without silent modifications. A formal correction notice will be published as a separate document, electronically linked to the original article, and an active cross-mark update will be sent to the Crossref metadata database.

2. Expressions of Concern

The Editor-in-Chief of Journal CERITA may issue an official Expression of Concern if:

  • There is strong, unresolved prima facie evidence of research misconduct, data fabrication, or authorship disputes, but the formal investigation is still ongoing, complex, or inconclusive.
  • The editors receive notice of an investigation by the authors' institution, but the institution takes an excessively long time to provide a final resolution or refuses to cooperate.

An Expression of Concern serves as a temporary notice to alert the scientific community while a thorough inquiry is being conducted.

3. Article Retractions

An article retraction is a severe measure implemented only in cases of egregious scientific flaws or ethical breaches that completely invalidate the paper's findings, rendering the research unreliable. In strict adherence to COPE Retraction Guidelines, Journal CERITA will retract an article if:

  • There is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either due to major honest errors, scientific calculation flaws, or deliberate misconduct (e.g., data fabrication or image manipulation).
  • The manuscript constitutes a severe case of plagiarism (copying someone else's work without attribution) or duplicate/redundant publication (previously published elsewhere without proper justification).
  • The research involves unethical practices, lacks proper institutional review board (IRB) or ethical approval, or if the authors failed to disclose a major, fatal conflict of interest.

Implementation: To ensure historical transparency, the retracted PDF file will not be permanently deleted from the website. Instead, the original article page will remain, but a prominent, watermarked "RETRACTED" notice will be appended to the PDF, accompanied by a formal Retraction Statement detailing the exact reasons for the retraction and identifying who initiated the action.

4. Reporting Errors and Misconduct

Authors, readers, reviewers, or institutions who discover honest errors or suspect ethical breaches in a published article are urged to report the matter formally via email to the Editorial Office at [email protected]. All reports will be evaluated objectively by the Editorial Board in a confidential and structured manner.